Meeting with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Minister of Labor... “Super metropolitan special zone law promoted through social dialogue”

Lee Jae-jin, chairman of the emergency response committee of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), met with Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon and expressed concern over the unilateral push for legislation related to the 'Ultra-wide Special Zone Act' and emphasized drawing conclusions through social dialogue.

According to the labor community on the 4th, Emergency Committee Chairman Lee and Minister Kim had a meeting regarding the One-Point Social Dialogue on the Ultra-Metropolitan Special Zone Act at the Seoul Southern Branch Office of the Ministry of Labor the afternoon before.

In this interview, which was arranged at the request of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, emergency committee chairman Lee defined the two bills related to the Ultra-Metropolitan Special Zone Act proposed by the Democratic Party of Korea as 'labor reform' and asked, "Please clarify your position that you will not unilaterally process the bills."

At the same time, he emphasized, “Quality jobs and reduced working hours should be universally implemented, focusing on young people who are full-time workers, not irregular workers, not only in special zones but also in all workplaces.”

In response to this, Minister Kim reaffirmed his existing position, saying, “We will pursue it based on the results discussed and agreed upon in social dialogue.”

In addition, Minister Kim requested active cooperation from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, saying that in order to create quality jobs for young people and achieve local-led growth through the success of the super-metropolitan special zone, reasonable measures must be developed through social dialogue.

As labor opposition to special labor provisions, such as the 52-hour workweek exception, intensifies, the Democratic Party is pursuing a 'two-track' strategy in which it proposes separate bills including the provisions and bills excluding them and merges them during the National Assembly review process.

Regarding this, the two major unions criticized, “The government and the ruling party proposed a bill containing labor reform measures without even starting to discuss issues in earnest in social dialogue.”

After opposition from the labor community, revision of the enforcement ordinance was discussed as an alternative at the suggestion of President Lee Jae-myung, but the Ministry of Labor's position is that it will focus on drawing conclusions through social dialogue.

At the first vice-ministerial meeting held on the 2nd, it was decided to discuss agenda items in the future one-point social dialogue in the following order: ▲ basic goals, settlement support, and human resources training ▲ occupational safety and health, working hours, and health rights ▲ employment types and worker protection ▲ labor-management relations and participation and others.